Pondicherry’s Krithiga to dance for 133 hours

November 12, 2013

It is not everyday that you meet someone your age and 50 minutes into the conversation, all you have for the person is overwhelming admiration, respect and incredible awe. I was engulfed with the same emotions after my interview with this 23 year old.

Meet Krithiga Ravichandran, a dancer who had to survive odds to become a Bharatnatyam dancer of repute. It is sheer determination when a 3rd grader takes a bus ride, alone, every day, far away from her place to attend her Bharathnatyam classes.

With parents who have supported her from the beginning, it is not a surprise that she maintains that her parents have been her biggest pillar of strength.

What makes Krithiga special here?

Currently doing her M.Phil in Dance and her Ph.D in Computer Science, Krithiga proudly claims that she has received all scholarships for dancers in both State level and Central level. A recipient of the Pondicherry State Best Child Award when she was 13, her first state level recognition made her realize her potential and encouraged her to aim for the next level. She has traveled extensively in India and abroad for her dance performances.

Adding to that , getting the CCRT scholarship for Dance in the TamilNadu and Pondicherry level from the Central government, gave her an extra impetus to make dance her career.

Krithiga said to ZoomPondy that her dedication to Bharathnatyam never troubled her academics. She holds a distinction in her undergraduate studies and a CGPA of 9.6 in her Masters. She has a queer method of balancing her academics along with her rigorous dance schedule. She says that she tries to recollect what she had studied when she dances and thinks of her dance steps simultaneously when she studies.

Find it strange? So do I. Krithiga is an abundance of energy and enthusiasm and you trust that she can multi-task this way!

She says that she is extremely grateful to the Pondicherry government for providing her with a way to have learned dancing without having to spend a lot.

Studying at Bal Bhavan in Pondicherry also helped her to get acquainted with other dance forms like Karagattam, Kathak, Folk, Bhangra, Kavadi. She rues the fact that she could not concentrate on other forms of dance since she got busy with Bharatnatyam.

Her multi-faceted personality is reflected in the fact that she anchors shows in DD Podhigai channel like ‘Puduvai Kalanjiyam’ which showcases events that happen in Pondicherry.

What led her to knock the doors of Guinness World Records?

Krithiga who is a huge fan of the Thirukkural, which is one of the most important works in the Tamil language, had initially planned to create a Guinness record for being the first person to dance for the epic, Thirukkural. The Guinness Committee reasoned that if they recognized this, they will be busy with requests where people will come forward to dance for other texts.

Krithiga discovered that a woman, Kalamandalam Hemalatha from Kerala holds the record for the longest ever dance marathon which lasted for 123 hours and 15 minutes. She prepared an audio rendition of the Thirukkural which lasted for more than 133 hours and told the Guinness officials that she would like to break the existing record by dancing for the Thirukkal’s audio rendition. The Guinness officials gave her a thumbs up for her proposal. The audio rendition of the Thirukkural which was painstakingly done by Krithiga Ravichandran is very special in itself and it will be featured in a separate article in Zoompondy.com.

It dawned on her that she had to take care of the entire arrangements. Krithiga said to ZoomPondy that even getting to do a brochure for her performance looked like a behemoth of a task. She had to learn all of them the hard way. And learn she did!

Krithiga needs 14 lakh rupees for organizing the entire six days’ event which will be held at Kamban Kalai Arangam near Anna Square whose date has not been decided yet. The raw determination and grit which she has shown so far has reflected in the fact that she has been able to collect more than seven lakhs rupees. ALONE.

Interested people or businesses who are keen to sponsor her can contact her using the information given below: